Clashing ideas about identity, legitimacy drive Israel-Palestine conflict: Anand

By Canadian Press on July 28, 2025.

OTTAWA — Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand says peace between Israel and Palestinians requires a change in how people in the region talk about identity and legitimacy — not just a political agreement.

“Peace is not only about borders and agreements. It is also about shared stories and understanding that humanize all sides and foster trust,” she told a major United Nations conference Monday morning in New York.

“This moment demands political courage and resolve, and we must stand together and choose a different path, one that leads toward a sustainable and a just solution.”

The UN conference was convened by France and Saudi Arabia to find ways to preserve the two-state solution.

The Trump administration is not taking part in the conference, with State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce deeming it “an unproductive and ill-timed conference” that amounts to a “publicity stunt” that could compromise talks for a ceasefire in Gaza.

The U.S. argued the conference will prolong the war and embolden Hamas, branding it “a slap in the face to the victims of Oct. 7.”

Anand is expected to speak at more length later Monday. In her opening remarks, she said the conflict is driven by the duelling narratives through which Israelis and Palestinians perceive the conflict, and that peace requires a shared reality.

She said the crisis in the Middle East is not just about escalating violence in the Gaza Strip, but also the hostages still held captive by Hamas and “relentless settlement expansion in the West Bank.”

Anand called for “unified Palestinian governance” instead of leadership fragmented between Gaza and the West Bank.

International experts have been warning of starvation in Gaza, where Israel has slightly loosened its restrictions on aid deliveries to desperate Palestinians.

France recently announced it would be the first G7 country to recognize a Palestinian state, despite heavy pushback from Israel.

Canada has long called for the eventual creation of a Palestinian country that would exist in peace alongside Israel.

Ottawa has increasingly expressed concern that the Israeli government is trying to make a Palestinian state impossible. Last November, the Trudeau government changed Canada’s policy on Palestine statehood, saying that Ottawa could give recognition before peace talks conclude instead of first requiring a successful peace deal with Israel.

Prime Minister Mark Carney said in June that there must be “a Zionist, if you will, Palestinian state that recognizes the right of Israel to exist.”

On Monday, Carney said Ottawa will work with its peers on recognizing a future Palestinian state “that does not include Hamas in any role.”

At a news conference in Prince Edward Island, he accused Israel and its settlers of a “lack of respect” for “the territorial integrity of Palestine, in the West Bank.”

Carney referred to the area as Palestine instead of the “Palestinian territories,” the term that Canadian government officials almost always use.

Carney said Canadians “deplore the scale of the humanitarian crisis in Gaza” and his government has “condemned what has caused this situation. It starts with Hamas and the deplorable terrorist attacks of Oct. 7,” 2023.

The Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs welcomed Carney’s rejection of a role for Hamas in governing a Palestinian state.

“The path forward begins with sustained pressure on Hamas to release all Israeli hostages and ensure that no actions embolden Hamas to continue its campaign of violence,” wrote CEO Noah Shack.

He added that Canada should “work with international partners to disarm Hamas and ultimately remove them from Gaza and the West Bank.”